HOW CHAPLAINCY HAS INFLUENCED MY WRITING

 

I have been a Chaplain in a variety of settings for 30 years. 

In this time I have learnt to express ministry in an authentically compassionate way that thinks, pioneers, develops and responds with innovative, proactive empowerment and solutions.

Story telling has influenced my chaplaincy practice. My chaplaincy practice has influenced my writing. It is interesting how many parallels I have discovered in each. Both Chaplaincy and writing are grounded in presence, empathy, relationship building, narrative theory and story-holding. 

In Chaplaincy I have the privilege of sacred encounters with people every day.

In writing I get to nurture sacred encounters with readers too.

Let us consider some essential tenets of Chaplaincy delivery and how it may inform our writing.

AUTHENTIC PERSON-CENTRED ENGAGEMENT AND EMPATHY

Essentially, I carry a heart of authentic engagement with people from my philosophy and praxis of Chaplaincy into my writing. The alternative pastoral care that chaplaincy offers focuses on creating safe spaces through holistic care methods like narrative, metaphor, art, community development to help individuals navigate life’s challenges and faith transitions (Layson et al 2023). 

As a Chaplain and writer, I aim to express compassionate presence, actively listening to the human experience, and helping individuals or readers process deep emotions, suffering, and meaning. We write for people. People who have souls who require authentic person-centred engagement. As we write we need to ensure we are not caught in a pattern of mechanical content development but have a genuine, empathetic perspective. This requires vulnerability, active listening, and a deep understanding of the audience's needs. The heart of this is to be about redeeming our texts from the potential traps of shallow monologues, thin characters, unrelatable scenarios and weak prose into shared human experiences.

Chaplains exercise deep empathy, utilizing "perspectival knowing" to understand the world as their wards experience it. To write a compelling character, an author must step inside that person's psychological framework. To ensure that a character is relatable this means that an author needs to be able to do the same with their audience

THE EMPOWERMENT JOURNEY. HOLDING SPACE TOGETHER

Chaplaincy expresses a journey metaphor. It means walking alongside care-seekers supporting them as non-anxious companions in unfamiliar or painful territory. Spiritual exploration is viewed as an ongoing process of discovering purpose, meaning, and resilience, rather than a final fixed destination. The journey metaphor honours the unpredictability of human experience, giving people room to process at their own pace.

The "empowerment journey" refers to a shift from rescuing or dictating solutions to instead walking alongside individuals, honouring their agency, and facilitating their own spiritual or emotional growth. Chaplaincy treats the care seeker as ‘the expert’ of their own life and meaning-making process. It is a holistic, participatory process aiming for empowerment, and sustainable change. For me, writing is too. 

Chaplaincy creates a judgment-free zone where the individual (or community) can process grief, uncertainty, and emotional or moral conflict. It means simply being with someone in their time of trouble. It is the sacred practice of ‘holding space’ or ‘with-ing’: being fully present with the people right in front of us that we are caring for (McBride 2025) and -for me- who I am writing for. 

Chaplains act as "story-holders" (Blanco 2024). They create a safe and nurtured space to allow people wrestling with challenges to untangle their own experiences, helping them find continuity and purpose during emergencies, crisis, grief, and trials. Kerry Egan (former hospice Chaplain and author) writes that chaplaincy is less about storytelling and more about “story-holding”.

“We listen to the stories that people believe have shaped their lives. We listen to the stories people choose to tell, and the meaning they make of those stories.”(Egan 2017). 

As writers we craft narrative arcs that give events meaning and help characters discover meaning and life solutions. As writers we create and hold space with our readers as they engage with a well-told story, characters that they empathise with and story arcs that resonate with their own life journey.

Presence is the connective tissue serving as one of the most powerful forms of care we give as Chaplains (Blanco 2024). Simply being present. As I have grown in my role as chaplain, I have been grateful for the opportunity to deepen practices of active listening, bearing witness, staying grounded in the here and now, and ‘holding’ others with respect and compassion. Simply bearing witness to someone’s pain and letting them know they are not alone. In our creativity and storying development we have the privilege of holding countless sacred stories of love and loss and of suffering and resilience, bravery, inspiration and life change crafted with our characters and creating ‘presence’ with and for our readers.

Chaplaincy is empowering, not overpowering. Care is highly person-centred and  often shows radical respect. Chaplains avoid imposing their own dogmas or beliefs and foster self-determination. Chaplains ask open-ended questions that empower the care seeker to identify their own core values, strengths, and personal strategies for coping. While chaplains rely heavily on the unspoken elements of communication—tears, silence, and presence—to build a safe space for healing. Writers avoid heavy-handed exposition by using metaphor and scene. This is the necessary art of "showing, not telling": In both fields, truth is often found in the subtext.

Similar to the chaplain, an author of fiction is not trying to overtly persuade, but is effective in inviting readers towards perceptions of some aspect of the world, perhaps from the points of view of more than one character, and prompts the reader to consider: "How do you feel about this?"…"What do you think?" ... "What would you do?"

 

MEANING AND COPING FACILITATION

At the care seeker's invitation, chaplains aid in the exploration of spiritual, existential, or religious concerns to help them find meaning within their crisis.

Chaplains guide individuals through a process of spiritual discernment, stripping away distractions to help them focus on what they value most. Writers know that editing is where the true story emerges. Effective writing requires cutting away the noise to find the core message.

A chaplain helps individuals access inner reserves and external resources . Spirituality and faith are often used as tools that empower people to cope with adversity.

It is interesting to consider the question :

What internal or external resources have I been able to help my readers to discover?

CATALYSTS OF CHANGE

“Change spawns stories and stories can trigger change”(Brown et al 2009).

Chaplains act as agents of change by introducing new ideas, mobilizing support, empowering local people to take ownership of their own solutions, and facilitating collective action to solve problems.

In Chaplaincy we respond with a spirit that is empowering, grounded, and caring. I think the world needs more of that right now and perhaps can experience it through us as writers and our writing.

God’s desire for us is holistic flourishing, and I have come to realise that through my writing- as similarly to my Chaplaincy - I get to participate in the redemptive work of healing, growth, recreation, love and living.

In both chaplaincy and writing, transformation in others is a sacred privilege. We accompany people as they confront sometimes painful truths, wrestle with questions of identity and meaning, and begin to reframe their own stories.  

It’s powerful to be able to be a part of someone’s journey and to help inspire hope when the ground is shifting under their feet through seasons of change, desperation, suffering, awakening, flourishing and celebration.

Shane Brigg and friend holding space together Central Australia

 

 

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Blanco, J.  Editor (2024) Issue #28 “ Chaplaincy” . Fuller Magazine. Fall 2024

Brown, A.D, Gabriel, Y., Gherardi, S. (2009) Storytelling and Change: An Unfolding Story

Brown, A.D. and Humphreys, M. (2003) `Epic and Tragic Tales: Making Sense of Change', Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 39(2): 121-44.

Egan,K. (2017) On Living .Thorndike Press.

Layson, M. D., Carey, L. B., & Best, M. C. (2023). “The impact of faith-based pastoral care in decreasingly religious contexts: The Australian chaplaincy advantage in critical environments”. Journal of Religion and Health, 62 (3), 1491-1512.

McBride, G. (2025) ”The Weight-ing Game. Friends.  Is There a Right Way to Hold Space for Someone in Crisis? Providing support for someone in tough times is simpler than you might think”. Psychology Today. Posted March 1, 2025

Photos various chaplaincy and missions  contexts I have been involved in. 

Shane Brigg In PNG 'Journeying' and hearing and telling stories

Ready, Willing and AGENCY

In my work with young people discussions have arisen over the years of the importance of empowerment to help create positive solutions for their future. Recently a useful tenet has been raised about the necessity of “agency” to be afforded to the young people we engage with. Giving agency means the instilling of hope and a sense of purpose, meaning and belonging in their worlds. Giving agency to the characters in our stories helps our narratives have a deeper meaning as well. 

Sociologists (1) suggest that people experience agency in the context of actions oriented to the past, future and the present. The ‘past’ or “iterational” aspect of agency refers to how a person can selectively reactivate actions based on understanding from actions and thoughts from the past. This may include how people have actions in response to typical situations that help them sustain their interactions, identities and institutions over time. An example of this in our storytelling may be how a character we have created may be able to face and resolve circumstances at the end of their character arc simply because they have experienced other similar situations earlier in their story. 

The ‘future’ or “projective” aspect includes how a person purposefully creates potential future. A character in our storytelling may dream, visualise, imagine, or self-talk about possible future trajectories of action connected to their fears, desires, and hope for the future.

The ‘present’ aspect of agency is the “practical-evaluative element”. It includes the capacity of people to make judgements and chose actions in response to a situation, demand or context. Characters we have developed need to be described with a reasonable ability to reason, have a will, and be shown to be able to function in the variable telling of their stories.

An example of agency from my work as a Chaplain helps explain this:

“James” was a student who was dropping out of school in year 10, experimenting with substance abuse, and had a horrific background.  In a letter at the end of his schooling he related how the first session of meeting with me as his chaplain was enough for him to put aside the plans he had made to seriously harm himself. How this happened was through him regaining a sense of agency (or Hope) in what seemed a hopeless situation. We talked about how little successes from his past could help his future. We talked about the things he could practically action. He also came to recognise that he had people supporting him and to simply be there for him.  James was not only helped though chaplaincy to get the support he needed he was empowered to help himself. James also joined a team helping other students and raised his own support to go on a Humanitarian project overseas helping others.

Empowering Agency in others changes the lives of those being supported, who in turn go on to help change the lives of others as well. A bit of a secret about empowering agency in my chaplaincy  interactions is that it is not about having to “fix” the students I work with, but it means I am there to simply be a role-model that asks good questions that empower the students to design solutions for themselves.  We do well to create the same type of environment and opportunities for our characters. For a student like James living without agency, your friends insist on you making bad decisions, the situation you are in seems hopeless, then you either cope or don't with the situation you've been put in. With agency, you get to work out what you want to do, then make a decision, then deal with the results of that decision. Agency linked with positive influences and empowerment helps design constructive futures. 

The very same thing that agency means in real life, should be afforded to characters in our stories. Giving a character the opportunity to make decisions about what happens to them, rather than imposing a set of circumstances upon them and forcing them to react. When you give a character 'agency' you are also instilling in them the power to fulfill their destiny. Agency is self-determination. Characters can be an 'agent' of their own will. Giving agency means making sure a character has the ability to make choices that drive the story. The options a character has will depend on their history, skills, background, experience, status, training, etc. which are all great options to help embellish a narrative and to  craft a deeper storyline. You want a character that can take action and not just be acted upon. Agency gives characters the ability to make choices. A character’s personality is revealed by their choices, not just by surface elements. What a character chooses when faced with a decision tells you who that character is. This is real, like life. It helps readers want to engage at a deeper level with a narrative. Agency also helps make it all flow. A story is more engaging, an adventure is more fun and a narrative more believable if the protagonist has options and reasons and the actions have consequences, and you help show all of this process.

A well-crafted story that gives agency to characters motivates the reader to lean in, read on and want more. It is engaging. More than this it could empower, equip, and get people mobilised. Agency turns your characters into ambassadors, it empowers protagonists to follow their dreams, sort out problems, and make a difference. A character who is relentless about getting it right, when everything else is not gives a sense of agency. Agency gives individuals in our narratives a will and a reason to want to leave a legacy.

All this ignites a mobilisation faithfulness in your readers, because it’s about inspiration, hope, meaning and purpose.

Are you ready and willing to give agency? Let me inspire you: Go and be an empowerer 😊

 References

(1)    Emirbayer, M. and Mische, A.  (1998). "What Is Agency?". American Journal of Sociology. 103 (4): 962–1023.